Every sport has one name that echoes throughout it as the greatest. When it comes to arm wrestling, that name is John Brzenk. Anyone who has a grasp of the sport knows the man and the legend he has become, and his contribution in making arm wrestling what it is today. The influence of Brzenk is so massive, that none other than the legendary Devon Larratt himself revered him as the ‘father of every arm wrestler’.
Officially named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “Greatest Armwrestler of All Time”, John Brzenk has achieved it all when it comes to the sport. The 57-year-old veteran is the reigning UAL Right-Handed Champion (Heavyweight Division) which he won in 2011. Nicknamed “The Golden Boy”, Brzenk has proved his worth time and again on the table with impeccable pulling techniques that have etched his moniker as an elite.
40 years, being at the top: Devon Larratt lauds John Brzenk
Brzenk made his much awaited comeback to the sport in the month of December last year against Devon Larratt, headlining the “King of the Table 2.0” arm wrestling event that took place at the Millennium Place Barsha Heights in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Larratt, who is arguably the top performer in the sport currently, achieved a 4-0 win against the veteran Brzenk.
Nonetheless, speaking to Lex Fridman in his podcast last week, the Canadian didn’t hold back to shed appraisal over the 57-year-old. Crediting him for his contributions to the sport, Larratt detailed Brzenk’s journey through the years, since his triumph at ‘Over The Top’ when Brzenk was a teenager.
“John Brzenk is every arm wrestler’s father, to a certain degree,” said Larratt, “The entire sport looks up to him. It’s incredible, what he’s done. At 18, he won Over The Top, at 57 he just competed with me a couple of months ago. Still at the world level. [18 to 57] That’s 40 years, being at the top of a sport. It’s incredible, he’s hailed as the Greatest of All Time in the sport of arm wrestling.”
“When you talk about the evolution of the sport, he’s responsible for so much of it. Like, when you go back like 20 years, a lot of us looked at arm wrestling, I think, as something you could kinda do. And he’s the first guy who’s like, ‘if you wanna get better at arm wrestling, you gotta arm wrestle.’ And it seems so simple, but he answered so many questions that all of us had about techniques and the sport, back in the pre-video internet. He’s been everybody’s target for like 40 years,” Larratt added.
You can check out the full podcast below:
Highlights:
- Devon Larratt sheds praise on John Brzenk, calling the veteran ‘every arm wrestler’s father’ for his contribution to the sport
